If I were you
by Jesa Jaisai
Summary: Bulma manages to rope Vegeta into coming with her to a weekend getaway to an Island, so that she does not have to suffer alone with her parents.
1. Default Chapter

If I were you  
  
Written by: Jesa Jaisai  
  
E-mail: [1]millenia@vampirehunter.com  
  
CHAPTER ONE  
  
You look so fine...  
  
I want to break your heart and give you mine; you're taking me over. It's so insane, you've got me tethered and chained, I hear your name, and I'm falling over.  
  
* * *  
  
Vegeta stared at Bulma, dark impenetrable eyes trying desperately to see around her latest plan to rope him into another one of her ridiculous affairs.  
  
Apparently, by the way she waited patiently for his reply without sensing his dread, she was not joking.  
  
He finally broke his stare and snorted, arrogantly shaking his head as was his routine. "Woman, you have absolutely no idea how foolish you are being."  
Bulma bit her lip and calculated him carefully. Vegeta noticed with some amusement that she was doing an exceptionally good job of holding her anger in check. This amusement quickly turned to fear when he realized how serious her offer might be.  
  
"I am not joking, Vegeta." She finally decided on. "I really would like you to come. Besides, it's time you tore yourself away from that stupid gravity chamber and enjoyed a normal life for a while."  
  
"You think travelling in a car for two days with two loud females and a wandering recluse of a man is my idea of fun?" he scowled suspiciously at her. "Why do you even want me to come?" he asked. "It is not as though you enjoy my company."  
  
Bulma sighed. "You know, Vegeta, when you aren't being arrogant and rude, you can actually be somewhat of a pleasant man." Her ice blue eyes suddenly hardened at him. "And I am not about to travel in a car with my parents alone for a weekend. They may be old, but they still..." she trailed off as her cheeks heated. "The point is, it would be somewhat bearable if there was another person near my age to share in my misery."  
  
He stepped back. "There is no way in the seven hells that you can get me to come."  
  
She adopted her usual stance that terrified any man, even Vegeta on a rare occasion, with her feet planted squarely and her hands on her hips. She glowered menacingly.  
  
"Who will feed you for an entire weekend, Vegeta?"  
  
Vegeta snorted. "Don't be any stupider than you have to be, woman. I am capable of fending for myself. I was left alone on Vegetasei when I was but five years old."  
  
Bulma smirked, looking not unlike him. "Oh really. How many times have you come to me, sacrificing your mighty pride to beg me to make you a sandwich, when there was more than enough ingredients in the fridge?"  
  
Vegeta leveled a glare at her. "I will not come camping with-  
  
"Alright." She said cheerfully. "You can start packing whatever it is a Sayajin Prince needs for a camping trip." She smacked him on the shoulder as she walked past, victory plain and glowing on her features. "See you soon, Veggie-boy."  
  
Vegeta watched Bulma standing beside the car, her suitcase in hand as she swiped angrily at turquoise hair that fell into her eyes. Beside her sat three other suitcases. Vegeta snorted aloud and gestured to them.  
  
"You would think that you are leaving for a year." He said mockingly.  
  
Bulma glared. "When one cares about their appearance, Vegeta, they take care to pack necessary things."  
  
Vegeta ignored her. Why was he doing this? Why had he let her rule him and rope him into this stupid idea of hers? They were already at each other's throats, which was not unusual. Bulmas mother suddenly brushed past him in a flourish of cherry petals. Well, that was how it seemed to him, anyway. Her grinning, horrid face peered into his as she clasped her hands beneath her chin and giggled. "It's so nice of you to come, Vegeta."  
  
He consciously stepped back aware of the sickening amounts of happiness she radiated. "Yes, well, your sadist of a daughter is the one who forced me into this."  
  
She was not daunted by his reply. She stepped into the driver's seat and motioned for Bulma and Vegeta to follow suit. Vegeta stared into the inky blackness of the backseat of the capsule car.  
  
"There must be more room than this." He said incredulously. The thought of being so close to Bulma and her loud, female voice the entire trip made him feel panicked. Bulma rolled her eyes. "No, I'm afraid you're going to have to sit next to me the whole time, Vegeta."  
  
He scowled. "I'm staying."  
  
Bulma returned the glare with one of her own. "Alright. Then you can prepare five nine course meals for yourself." She casually began filing her nails. "I'm sure you'll find that easy enough."  
  
Vegeta slammed the car door behind him with enough force to tear it from its hinges. It was a wonder that it stayed intact. Slumping down in his seat he turned to Bulma. "Let's get this over with."  
  
References  
  
1. mailto:millenia@vampirehunter.com 


	2. Arrival

CHAPTER TWO  
  
I am lost so I am cruel but I'd be love and sweetness if I had you...  
  
* * *  
  
The tents were stationed at either end of the small Island that the Briefs family had chosen for their weekend vacation spot. This made both Bulma and her parents happy, but Vegeta was still miserable.  
  
He sat, cross-legged, outside the opening of Bulmas tent and watched her as she rummaged around inside her pack for her meaningless human tools. At last she pulled out what she had been searching for; a hairbrush.  
  
She sat with her back to him and began pulling it through what she complained to be `tangled' curls. Vegeta did not exactly care. Glaring, he cleared his throat in a less than graceful manner.  
  
"What?" she turned and raised an eyebrow. "Would you like me to comb your hair, as well?"  
  
"What!!?"  
  
She gestured, "It must get awfully windblown."  
  
He fumed. "I'm hungry."  
  
She shrugged. "So what am I supposed to do about that?"  
  
"You're supposed to feed me."  
  
Bulma put down the hairbrush and gave Vegeta a curious look. "What did you do for food on Vegetasei, seeing as you were so able to fend for yourself?"  
  
Vegeta shrugged. "I ate whatever I could find." He smirked at the opportunity to disgust her. "A fallen Sayajin Soldier, now and then."  
  
Bulma looked horrified. He reveled in it. "What? You can't possibly be serious!"  
  
"That's right. We ate whatever was given to us and we were grateful for it. We Sayajins are not picky." He said smugly. Bulma laughed heartily. "Oh, right. Bulma, there's too much mayonnaise on this sandwich. Bulma, I don't like whole wheat bread. Bulma, I-  
  
"Shut up, woman!" Vegeta snarled. Bulmas laugh died off and she put the hairbrush back into her backpack. "Alright. I'll leave you alone...for now. I know how much fun this must be for you." She pulled out another item. A bottle of suntan lotion. She began rubbing it over her arms and legs.  
  
"What is that substance?" Vegeta peered at the bottle. Bulma held her hand out for him to sniff. His nose wrinkled and he pulled back with a sour expression. "It smells. Almost as bad as you."  
  
"I'm sure you don't say that when you sneak into my room at night and smell my panties." She snorted.  
  
Ignoring her, Vegeta abruptly stood. "I am already bored with this tiny Island." He snarled. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and scowled at everything within his vicinity. "There is nothing to do."  
  
Bulma waved a hand at him. "Oh, that's just because you don't know how to have fun, Vegeta." She clambered out of the tiny tent and stood beside him. "Have you ever explored an Island? There's a lot to see, if you'd only search for it."  
  
He raised an eyebrow. "If you can prove this to me, I may deem you correct."  
  
Bulma grinned at him and shrugged her backpack onto her shoulders. "Ok, but you're going to be one sunburned loser." She began walking toward the back of the tent. The majority of the Island lay out in front of them like a huge, uncharted forest. Vegeta watched her go for a moment before asking; "What is this `sunburned'?"  
  
Vegeta learned all too quickly what it felt like to be `sunburned'.  
  
Bulma was busy kneeling at the edge of a murky pond they had stumbled upon. Vegeta was standing behind her, gingerly rubbing his arms and cringing at the reddened skin he saw on them. This was a new kind of pain that he had never experienced. It was not the sort of throbbing, aching pain that he felt in his muscles after he sparred with Kakarott. It was a horrible, almost unbearable sting that screamed at him every time he stepped out of the shade.  
  
"I do not think I enjoy this `sunburned' sensation." He growled. Bulma stood up from where she was kneeling and grinned at him. "Well, I did offer you some suntan lotion, but you so all mightily refused. If you had put some on you wouldn't be hurting right now."  
  
Vegeta did not want to admit that she was right. She had already been right about him enjoying the Island. They had been walking for nearly two hours and already he had seen and terrified enough new species to last him a lifetime.  
  
Needless to say, Bulma had not been happy about him wanting to destroy everything on the Island. She had babbled on about some nonsense about `enjoying the wildlife from a distance' and `appreciating its beauty'.  
  
Suddenly she was beside him. "Hey! Earth to Vegeta. I'm trying to show you something here."  
  
Vegeta looked down into her upturned palm and saw a mashed, brownish green ooze dripping from her fingers.  
  
"What the hell is that?"  
  
"Hungry?" she waved the swill under his nose. He scrunched up his features and shook his head. "Get that away from me, you horrible woman! We haven't been here three hours and already you're trying to kill me!"  
  
Bulma rolled her eyes. "Calm down. This is a home remedy for sunburns. You just rub it over your skin and it takes the sting away."  
  
Vegeta looked suspiciously at the ooze. He sniffed it again. It smelled worse than some of the carrion he had rolled in as a young boy on Vegetasei. He turned his coal black eyes on Bulma. "You had better not be lying to me, woman."  
  
Before he could object Bulma was smearing it all over his arms. He opened his mouth to protest but stopped when he realized how soft and good her tiny hands felt. He watched them running over the corded lines of his muscles and with great difficulty suppressed the urge to flex.  
  
"There." She finished. "Now don't go in any water or it'll come off and it won't work anymore." She wiped her hands off on her shorts and turned from him, returning her attentions to the pond. "Don't worry," she called over her shoulder, "You can thank me later."  
  
Vegeta glared at her backside, hating himself for allowing her weak female hands to overpower him. "I will thank you when I am still alive in an hour."  
  
"Why would I kill you, Vegeta?" Bulma asked him. She seemed genuinely interested in his answer. "You're like the best guard dog a home could have. Not to mention you help keep the World from being destroyed. That's always a good one." She dipped her hands in the water, washing them free of the ooze she had rubbed on his skin.  
  
Vegeta sauntered over to her and crossed his arms. He blinked, startled, when he realized that his arms no longer stung. "I do not help protect the Earth. I am its sole protector." He tried to ignore the smug look on her face.  
  
"Works, doesn't it?"  
  
"Perhaps..." he mumbled.  
  
Bulma laughed and clapped him on the back. He winced, not only at the sunburned pain but also at the way she was acting so happy. She was never this happy when they spent time together. He found himself growing suspicious but shrugged it off. It must been something in the Island air, he concluded. Otherwise she would be yelling and cursing him out as usual.  
  
"What's your problem?" he smirked at her. "What's making you so damn happy?"  
  
Vegeta grinned wickedly to himself. He would put this to the test, he would. He was going to see how long Bulma could keep this façade in place.  
  
"What?" she asked, a tiny bit of anger seeping into her voice, "I'm not allowed to be happy?"  
  
"You aren't usually this happy." He retorted. "It's even stranger that you're happy during your cycle."  
  
Bulma's cheek bloomed like red tomatoes. "My cycle?" she squeaked. "What the hell are you talking about?"  
  
Vegeta shrugged casually. "It is your time. I can smell it on you."  
  
She made a disgusted face and stepped back from him. "You're such a pervert, Vegeta!"  
  
"It's nothing to be embarrassed about." He smirked evilly. "I just hope you have brought enough sanitary napkins."  
  
Bulma blinked in disbelief. "How do you know what a sanitary napkin is?" she narrowed her eyes at him curiously.  
  
Vegeta straightened to his full height, which wasn't all that impressive. "I know a lot of things, woman." He said shortly. "That is all."  
  
Bulma suddenly grinned. "My god! Not only do you smell my underwear, but you probably search through my wastebasket for-  
  
"Don't turn this around in your favor!" he growled, cutting her off. It was Vegeta's turn to be embarrassed. "I would do nothing of the sort!"  
  
Bulma tried not to giggle, but she couldn't help it. Here was the almighty Prince of the Sayajins, fuming crimson red and trying desperately to avoid walking into the trap she was setting for him. It was an amazing display, not to mention that fact that he looked absolutely adorable when he blushed.  
  
What am I saying?  
  
Bulma shook the thought off. She turned her attention back to Vegeta, who was still scowling off into the distance, not daring to damage his pride any further. He caught her gaze and rounded on her. "What?" he roared.  
  
"Nothing." She said, choking on her words. She quickly broke out into a peal of hysterical laughter.  
  
Vegeta growled and turned his back to her. The woman is insufferable! How dare she insinuate such a thing! Especially to me, Vegeta, Prince of the Sayajin! Vegeta stole a look around his shoulder at Bulma who was doubled over laughing; kneeling in the dirt with one hand while the other supported her shakily. Such a stupid woman. Though...I certainly would not mind seeing some of her undergarments...they are such foolish things. They only get in the way. And why do hers have to be so colorful? What is the purpose of decorating clothing that no one will see? Except perhaps for weakling idiot boyfriends that...  
  
He blinked when he noticed Bulma had stopped laughing. She was staring at him with an expression he could not read. Inwardly he flinched.  
  
She can't read your mind, Vegeta. Don't be so foolish. Why would she want to, anyway? And why in the hell did she want to bring me to this insane Island? Perhaps she is in heat...or worse, perhaps her nesting instincts intensify with each passing cycle she suffers through? No...surely the woman would not want to...no, that's absurd, Vegeta. What's wrong with you? Thinking such stupid ideas...why-  
  
Bulma tapped him on the shoulder. "Vegeta? Is something wrong? You've been so quiet...and you've got the weirdest look on your face!"  
  
"I'm fine! Now get lost. You're becoming annoying."  
  
She slapped him hard on the shoulder. It was the same effect as if a gnat would have bumped into him, but he decided not to tell her that. He felt strange. He could not deny the feeling he was experiencing and wanted only to return to the solitude of his own company.  
  
"When is your mother preparing the food?" he asked.  
  
"My dad always cooks on the Vacations." Bulma replied coolly. "Why?"  
  
"Is your father adequate at cooking food?" Vegeta suddenly felt his stomach pitch. Dr.Briefs was insane. He wandered through the deep labyrinths of his computer labs late at night, mumbling to himself. And that cat! What the hell was the deal with that cat?  
Bulma shrugged. "I guess. He's not as good as my mom, but he can whip something up. Do you like K.D?" 


	3. ChapterThree

CHAPTER THREE  
  
A stroke of luck or a gift from God? The hand of fate or Devils claws? From below or saints above? You come to me now...  
  
* * *  
  
"Ooh Dear..." Bulma's mother whined in an annoying, girly voice. "Honey, are you sure you cooked that long enough?"  
  
It was finally dinner. The four sat in a circle around a massive bonfire that Vegeta had built in a matter of two seconds for them courtesy of a large ki blast. Bulma announced that there was yet another use for a Sayajin on a camping trip. Fuel for the fire. Vegeta had ignored her, though inwardly he smirked at the compliment.  
Dr.Briefs laughed and Vegeta watched his mustache bristle. "Of course I did. How can you go wrong cooking haggis?" he waved the spoon in the air and cleared his throat. "I have a surprise for you! I decided to add a little flare to the meal. What kind of stuffing do you three like? Cheese, Banana, or Marshmallow?"  
  
There was a silence. He shrugged. "Oh well. Guess its marshmallow."  
  
Bulma paled. Her mother giggled nervously. Vegeta stared in complete horror as Dr.Briefs promptly began shoving large spoonfuls of gooey Marshmallow into what Bulma explained was `a sheep's stomach'. Dr.Briefs passed the largest plate to Vegeta who looked down at the steaming contents and blinked. "You have to be joking."  
  
Bulma elbowed him roughly in the ribs. "Vegeta!" she hissed. "Don't be rude!"  
  
Vegeta thrust a hand at the plate and looked flabbergasted. "Who the hell could eat this shit, woman? You honestly don't expect me to, do you?"  
  
He stood up, completely ignoring the wounded look on her father's face. "I will catch us dinner." He announced, powering up to prepare to take off. Bulma jumped up beside him with clenched fists. "You will not!" she growled. "Sit here and eat your dinner, Vegeta."  
  
Vegeta smirked and grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her against him. "Would you like to accompany me?"  
  
Bulma shrieked at the feeling his ki had on her skin. It did not hurt but it tingled strangely. She snarled and struck his chest repeatedly with her fist. "NO!" she yelled. "I would not!!"  
  
Without another word Vegeta hauled her over his shoulder much like a burlap sack and blasted away from the bonfire. Bulma screamed and clung to him. Her fingernails dug into his skin with deadly intent as she screamed into his ear. "PUT ME DOWN!"  
  
"Don't be stupid!" he yelled over the wind. "You will die if I do that."  
  
"NO, I MEAN PUT ME DOWN GENTLY!!"  
  
He smirked and powered up more, searching the forest floor below them for signs of a suitable meal. Bulma saw how futile her situation was and stopped struggling, content to be angry with him for his little escapade. She would have continued to be silent when she noticed that she could not see the fire anymore. They were rapidly approaching what she saw to be the very end of the Island. She had forgotten how fast Sayajins could fly.  
  
"Vegeta! Just where in the hell do you plan on going!?"  
  
His dark narrowed eyes ignored her and continued searching the ground. She thumped him hard on the back of the head. It was a frustrating thing that no matter how hard she ever hit him, it never did any good. She could hit a home run to his face with a sledgehammer and he wouldn't so much as blink. Bulma had a wicked thought about doing the same thing to his crotch, which would probably get her a reaction.  
  
"Vegeta!" she whined. "It's getting really cold!"  
  
Seconds later she was in his arms, where she nuzzled her head into his chest and found it surprisingly warm. The abrupt contact didn't seem to embarrass either of them so she decided it would be ok if she wrapped one arm around his neck. The ground was an awfully long drop.  
  
"Quit your whining." He said. She looked up; his mammoth neck was inches from her face. "I've found my prey." His smile turned devious.  
  
Bulma craned her neck to see down below them, counting on the fact that his arms were more than securely wrapped around her. She saw a group of wild boar. She had no idea that such animals would be found on a tropical Island. She had suspected animals like parrots and monkeys and snakes.  
  
"Don't those things live in Africa?" she asked him. Vegeta had come to a halt in the air. The air around them crackled and sparked as his ki connected with the energy of the Island.  
  
"They do. And they live here, as well, it would appear."  
  
"And why would we want to eat those things?"  
  
Vegeta gave her a look that made her feel alarmingly stupid. "Because they taste great." He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Haven't you ever tried wild boar?"  
  
"No." she said blankly. "I like Big Mac's."  
  
"Have you ever killed a wild boar?"  
  
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she cried.  
  
Vegeta smirked. He had a way of terrifying her to her very core. "You're such a bastard. I am not going to help you kill one of those disgusting monsters."  
  
He laughed cruelly. "Oh, I know that. You'd only get in the way, and then you'd get killed. I can't have that happening."  
  
Bulma rolled her eyes. "But I thought I was easily `disposable'."  
  
Vegeta began to slowly descend. Bulma saw that he was nearing the top of a very large tree. She could already see what he had in mind by the way he was guiding her toward a large crook in-between two big branches.  
  
"You will stay up here while I go down there and kill that boar."  
  
"Yes, sahib."  
  
"Try not to be loud and annoying." He said distantly.  
  
"Why don't you just shoot it from here?"  
  
"Because the thrill of the hunt is so much more exciting." He said.  
  
"You're going to fight the damn thing?" she whispered harshly. "Oh kami you're impossible."  
  
And so it was. The Sayajin Prince vanished from his place beside her in the air and reappeared seconds later beside the largest of the six boars. Its large wet brown eyes widened, as it stood stunned as if paralyzed by fear. Bulma could not help but feel sorry for it as Vegeta's gloved hands took it by the enormous tusks jutting from it's mouth and slammed it into the ground with enough force to leave a small crater in the earth. The boar squealed and she watched, transfixed, as the forest floor lit up in a huge flash of golden light. Over the roar of the energy she heard the other boars screaming in panic in high, oddly pitched voices as they scattered to avoid the same fate their comrade had suffered. Vegeta seemed satisfied enough with the single boar he had killed, and let the other five flee. The debris settled and Bulma nearly jumped out of the tree as Vegeta appeared in a flash beside her.  
  
"You need to get on my back, now."  
  
Bulmas upper lip curled in disgust as her eyes trailed over his body. His once pristinely white chestplate armor was now covered in thick fur and blood. He wasn't even breathing hard. His arms, up to the elbows at least, were dark crimson. She made a nauseated noise in the back of her throat.  
  
"What the hell did you do to it? Drop your watch in there somewhere?"  
  
He repeated himself. "Get on my back!"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I can't carry a six hundred pound boar and you in the same two arms, woman."  
  
"Six hundred pounds must be a lot when you can do four million one handed push-ups in 500x Earth's gravity, huh?"  
  
Vegeta's ki flared to life with his anger. "Silence! It's just that it's awkward. It would be easier for both of us, not that I'm considering your personal well being."  
  
Bulma rolled her eyes and obliged, motioning for him to turn around. He did, and waited rather impatiently while she slowly edged herself out of the branches. "Hurry up!" he snarled. "I want to eat."  
  
"It's a long way down, dammit!" she shot back at him. And it was. The forest floor wavered dangerously in her vision as she slowly inched her right leg out from under her. Her left leg followed suit. Suddenly Bulma felt herself slipping. Her scream died in her throat as her legs flew out in front of her and she felt herself falling headfirst backward, out of the tree, spiraling toward the ground.  
  
It wasn't much of a surprise that Vegeta caught her seconds before she hit. His arms held her behind her back and under her legs as she trembled with the adrenaline rush. She turned her huge, frightened blue eyes to him and bit her lip, very near to tears.  
  
Vegeta made an annoyed sound. "Don't cry, woman. You're not dead. I caught you."  
  
Bulma recovered rather quickly. She balled her hands up into fists and shifted violently in his grip. "I know that! But I almost did! And it scared the living hell out of me!" she shook violently.  
  
Vegeta got sadistic amusement out of the tiny vibrations her body sent through his. She truly had thought she was going to die. She was so stupid. Couldn't she see that he was right there? As if he wasn't quick enough to catch her. Honestly...  
  
Bulma did not loosen the death grip she had around his neck, and Vegeta discovered that strangely, he didn't mind. Bulma looked up at him through teary eyes and felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Even if it was terribly obvious that he would have caught her either way...  
  
"Vegeta...?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Thank you..."  
  
Vegeta seemed very uncomfortable by her choice of words. "Don't be stupid." He squirmed from where he knelt, "It was the inevitable."  
  
"I know..." Bulma said softly. "But nevertheless, you did save my life."  
"How would your parents have felt if I hadn't?" he squirmed some more, his voice somewhat confused. "I only did what I had to."  
  
Bulma smiled. "Is it really such a terrible thing to give in to normal human emotions? You may be Sayajin, but I know you can feel like I can."  
  
Vegeta narrowed his eyes and looked away from her. What is she doing? Why does she say these things to me? I didn't save her because I wanted to...I just...  
  
Suddenly he realized that Bulmas face was very near to his. He could smell her pheromones in the air and could feel the slight increase of body temperature. It made him swallow hard. He shifted again, trying to signal that she could get out of his arms anytime she wanted to. Now would be great.  
  
"Do you have a heart in there, Vegeta?" her lips very nearly touched his. Her breath was on his cheek. "Did you save me because you..." she tilted her head and brushed the side of his face with her nose. Accidentally or intentionally, she herself didn't know.  
  
What are you doing, Bulma? This is Vegeta! Arrogant, pompous asshole Vegeta! But yet...he does present a challenge.  
  
Vegeta cleared his throat and stood signaling the end of their conversation that was treading on very uneasy ground. Bulma seemed to catch herself and, shifting herself in his arms, slid out of his grip and plopped to her feet. She brushed herself off, the aftermath of the fall still very fresh in her mind. She stood not knowing what to do with her hands, and finally found a place for them deep within her pants pockets.  
  
"Uh..." she looked around his bulky physique for the boars body, trying anything to avoid meeting his eyes. She did not see it at first but then spotted its hind legs sticking out from behind a tree. Dark, congealed blood coated most of its fur and the ground around it. She grimaced.  
  
She looked to him. "I guess we can take it back now...huh?"  
  
Vegetas dark eyes contemplated her silently. She felt oddly naked under their gaze. "My parents must be worrying." She added.  
  
At last he scowled and crossed his arms, a gesture so like his usual demeanor that Bulma felt herself sigh with relief. It was better than the strange look he had plastered to his face.  
  
"They know you are in good hands." He said angrily. "There is no cause for them to worry about you, woman."  
  
"I...I know." She said. It was so strange, the way she didn't have any desire to attack him a verbal frenzy of insults. Instead she was suddenly thinking thoughts about him that had never crossed her mind before. They made her stomach waver.  
  
"I'm getting really cold, Vegeta. Could we just hurry back?" she started thinking about the campfire and its warmth. She thought about her tent and the gigantic 40 below sleeping bag that her father had bought her specifically for the trip. She almost laughed when she remembered the look on his face when she had reminded him that it was a tropical Island.  
  
Though, it was surprisingly cold. The sun was beginning to set and with it's departure came sudden bitter breezes and shadowed corners.  
  
She ran a hand through her aqua hair and turned pleading eyes on his. "Please?"  
  
He stalked over to the boar and hoisted it into his arms with as much effort as it took her to lick a postage stamp. It smacked against his chest and Bulma watched the way its blank eyes rolled in its head. Its thick black tongue lolled over the bottom row of serrated canines and she suddenly was very glad that Vegeta was going to give her a piggyback ride the way back.  
  
"Alright." He said. He turned his back to her and stood. "Climb on."  
  
She stared at the hard terrain of muscle that was so well outlined against the skintight spandex he wore and shivered. Never before had she thought of climbing on Vegetas back as an intimate experience. Suddenly she was glaring. Why was she the only one feeling awkward right now? Why was she the only one blushing furiously? It wasn't fair that he was always so iron willed, so damn sure of himself all the time. Why couldn't she break through his barriers and make him gulp and sweat and avoid eye contact?  
  
Bulma had no idea how entirely wrong she was.  
  
Vegeta felt her small and lithe body climb clumsily onto his back and held his breath. Her legs wrapped around his midsection and unsure arms encircled his neck. It was such an alien feeling to him. He had never had a woman before. Bulma was the only real female that he had ever truly touched, and even she had never touched him in a manner other than to anger him. She had struck him more times that he could remember. But now, this strange new type of touch was awakening feelings inside him that he did not know he had.  
  
He hated her for it. He was the Prince of the Sayajin. He had no use for human emotion. He was an elite soldier who lived by the age-old rule kill or be killed, and now she was making him doubt himself.  
  
"Hold on tight." He said gruffly. Without waiting for her to do so he powered up and shot up into the darkening sky sending showers of dirt and leaves spiraling in mad funnels in his wake. Bulma gasped and locked her wrists together with her hands; she was not going to fall again this trip. Why had she let him take her, anyway? She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face into the back of his neck, grateful for the wall against the wind. She was so tired. She closed her eyes and waited for sleep, not caring that she would fall asleep on Vegetas back. 


	4. ChapterFour

CHAPTER FOUR  
  
Nothing said could change the fact. My trust was blind. You broke the pact. If Gods my witness, God must be blind. Choke on guilt that's far too good for you. Say one word I'll laugh and bury you and leave you in the place where you left me...  
  
* * *  
  
Bulma wearily collapsed on her sleeping bag, feeling nearly drugged at the incredible sensation that sinking into the down material gave her.  
  
She rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling of the tent. The material was flimsy; she could see right through it. Into the sky and beyond.  
  
The breeze had oddly enough turned warm again. It blew over the ocean and brought her smells of wet sand and seashells. She tried not to think about the fact that her parents were at the other end of the Island. Any other time it would have bothered her to be so close. Now they seemed terribly far away.  
  
She noticed that the tent flap was still open. It was light enough to see most of the surroundings but she didn't want to see any of them. Hurriedly she shut the tent and curled up on her sleeping bag.  
  
Vegeta entered her thoughts. After they had ate their wild boar, which she had to admit was quite tasty, Vegeta had insisted that he did not need any sleeping chambers, and that a tree or the ground would do just fine. She shook her head and laughed to herself. He was so stubborn.  
  
You wish he were here right now, don't you?  
She pushed the thought away. It bothered her because it was true. All through supper they had both caught each other's glances and both looked away when they did. It was so typically Harlequin she wanted to gag. The moonlit Island. The shy glances through the flames of a roaring fire. The awkward clumsy contact.  
  
But it felt...good.  
  
She couldn't have feelings for Vegeta. It wasn't possible. She hated the man...didn't she? He never gave her anything but trouble. He cursed at her and insulted her at every turn. He ordered her around like a slave. He treated her friends horribly, and what's more, he had tried to destroy all of them years ago. It was unfathomable. He was a walking breathing Enigma that she hated because she wanted to unlock his secrets more than she wanted anything else. He was such a challenge and he lived with her. She had the opportunity to solve his puzzle any time of the day, but she couldn't because it couldn't be done. Vegeta had a wall in front of him that was eight miles thick and 50 stories high. It couldn't be climbed and it couldn't be destroyed.  
  
So why did he eat away at her mind like this?  
Bulma rolled over and pursed her lips. She was deep in thought now. She never was one to give up on anything. Determination was her strong point, but when it came to Vegeta she deflated like a balloon. She had but to look into his scowling black depths and her resolve shattered. Just like that.  
  
She was beginning to wonder if dragging him along had been such a good idea. But wasn't it what she wanted? They had actually laughed and had fun in the three hours they had spent walking through the forest, didn't that prove something? Vegeta's scowl had actually softened and a ghost of a smile had drifted across his features. It gave her hope that somewhere inside there was something worth struggling for. Something that she could see haunting him during moments only she had seen him in. Something that was clawing up through him, begging to be free, waiting for the one who could accept him enough to let it out.  
  
Was she that person?  
  
It was crazy. Vegeta was Vegeta. Stubborn and reclusive and ruthless right to the dying end. But it drove her insane to think of that thing inside him that wanted release and the possibility that she could release it.  
  
Bulma sat up. That was it. She wasn't going to get any sleep if she didn't talk to him. It was settled. She crawled forward and reached for the tent flap but faltered.  
  
What am I doing? She paused, her outstretched fingers waiting to open the tent. What am I even going to say? Hi! What's up Vegeta? Just thought I'd come looking for you in the middle of the night in my underwear. Couldn't stop thinking about you, y'know?  
  
She groaned. She would look like an idiot. And he would laugh. In her face, like he always did. She looked down at herself. And she was only wearing a baggy oversized T-shirt that hung down past her knees. Yaumcha had left it at her house years ago. It sported the logo of some sports team she knew nothing about.  
  
I could be wearing some flimsy see through teddy. I'd saunter up to him and bat my eyelashes just like they do in the romance novels, and he'd throw me down on the sand and-  
  
It would do.  
  
She threw open the tent and began searching for the reason for her lack of sleep. It did not take her long to find him.  
  
The two bumped into each other as Bulma rounded a sharp corner. She let out a surprised grunt as she felt the air rush from her lungs at an alarming speed. Vegeta stood and blinked, recovering much faster than her. He brushed off his chest as if paranoid about contacting any horrible female disease.  
  
Bulma pointed a finger at him as her other hand massaged her throat. She seemed pinched for air. "Vegeta!" she squeaked, trying to catch her breath. It felt like she had been smacked in the midsection with a piece of mountain. "What the hell is your problem? Aren't your finely tuned Sayajin senses good enough to anticipate me?"  
  
He smirked, seemingly amused about something. She took a final breath and rotated her shoulders. Her arms hung at her sides. Seeming fully recovered, she spread her hands palm up and raised an eyebrow. "What?"  
  
He nodded toward her. "Nice undies."  
  
She looked down at the faded T-shirt. "Thanks." She said, annoyed. "They aren't undies, Vegeta. It's a fucking T-shirt. Now, I know you know that much."  
  
He shrugged. "What are you doing?"  
  
Bulma opened her mouth, her anger fresh in her, eager for a retort. She found she had none. She tugged self consciously on the bottom of her shirt and frowned. "I lost something."  
  
Oh, you're quick on the ball, Bulma.  
  
Vegeta did not look convinced. "What did you loose?"  
  
"My...lip...balm..." her voice sounded strained.  
  
That's right. Lip Balm. The guy doesn't even know what the shit is.  
  
She straightened at a sudden idea. "Would you help me find it?"  
  
Vegeta pushed past her and continued on his way. She spun around and grabbed his arm before he had a chance to get away completely. "Wait!"  
  
He bristled visibly. "Why are you searching for stupid female necessities at midnight, woman? Don't you have anything else to do?"  
  
"Not really..." she said softly. "Actually, I was just lonely." Her hand dropped from where it was on his arm. "I thought maybe you'd be awake and we could..."  
  
He rubbed the spot where her hand had been and she noticed the way his eyes softened just a hint. "Thought we could what...?" his voice was uneasy. He suspected something of her.  
  
Bulma blushed when she realized what he was thinking. "No! Vegeta...I don't mean..." she tried to laugh it off but her voice died in her throat. "I mean...I thought we could...hang out."  
  
Vegeta turned to her. His body was perfectly silhouetted against the moonlight. He folded his arms and glared. "Hang out? Does this `hang out' have a purpose to it?"  
  
She made an exasperated sound. "No, Vegeta. Hanging out means exactly what it says. We just...talk...or go for a walk...or something!" she threw up her arms in a helpless gesture. "Never mind! I thought maybe you'd want to be civilized and work with me. I'm attempting to make conversation with you and you're just-  
  
"If this `hanging out' serves any sort of importance at all, then I suppose I can oblige." He cut her off. She looked at him in surprise. "Really?"  
  
He looked disgruntled. "Yes."  
  
She grinned and hooked an arm through his. "I knew my charms would work on you." He stared at the spot where their bodies connected and frowned.  
  
Remember...this is just a friendly sort of touching. Nothing has to come out of this, if you don't want it to.  
  
I DO want it to!  
  
Shut up!  
  
She tugged on his arm and led him forward. "We could go swimming."  
  
"Swimming?"  
  
"Yeah," she gazed up at him. "You know...people get in the water and splash around for a while?"  
  
He shrugged. "Do you have to be touching me?"  
  
"Is it bothering you?"  
  
"Yes. Very."  
  
She slid her arm from his and pouted. "Well? Do you want to go swimming?"  
  
"Is that what hanging out is?"  
  
"For fucks sake, Vegeta! Just get in the water!" she took off running across the sand toward the ocean. He stood and watched her go, not knowing what to do. She stopped at the waters edge and waved at him. "Come on!"  
  
He scowled. Why am I letting her do this to me? She does have nice underwear, however. Wait...oh Kami!   
  
He watched her as she slowly walked forward into the waters depths. Within moments the water was up to her waist, sloshing around her in tiny waves that sent the bottom of her T-shirt rippling across the surface. She smiled. "It's really warm." She sounded slightly surprised. "I thought it would be..." her voice trailed off when she noticed Vegeta stepping out of his pants.  
  
"Vegeta!" she cried. She wanted to turn around. Really, she did. But she couldn't seem to take her eyes off of him. He held his shirt in his hands and glared at her, genuinely confused. "What, woman?"  
  
She finally tore her eyes from him and turned, trying to hide the terrible heat that was seeping into her face. "You might have warned me first!"  
  
"Warned you about what?"  
  
"That you were going to be completely and entirely naked!" she hollered.  
  
She heard him chuckle sadistically behind her. Only until she heard the splashing of water nearing her did she turn around. He was shaking his head vigorously. Water droplets slid down his nose and chin and dripped quietly into the waves. His hair regained its gravity defying posture within seconds and she shook her head. "Honestly. Don't you think there's a reason as to why humans wear clothes?"  
  
"It is a stupid custom." He said bluntly. "I never wore clothes if I had no need to on Vegetasei. They only get in the way. There is nothing to be ashamed about. There's nothing to hide."  
  
That's what you think. Bulma tried to wipe the image of his below the belt miracle from her memory. She could not, and was not to terribly disappointed about it.  
  
As if sensing her discomfort and loving it Vegeta started laughing in that cruel manner of his. Bulma's guard flew up and she tensed, worry sinking rapidly into her veins.  
  
"What's so damn funny?" she cried. Vegeta stopped laughing and smirked at her. "You. Is this what your reason for embar-  
  
"DON'T!" Bulma grabbed him by the shoulders before he could rise out of the water. She glared up at him with a scowl to rival his own. "I don't need to see that, really I don't, Vegeta."  
  
He sighed. "You humans are so strange."  
  
"No, you Sayajins are the ones on crack." She fired back at him. "Look, could we just swim? Or are you going to continue to parade around naked and threaten me with your manly visage?"  
  
He turned and began walking back to shore. "Fine!" Bulma called after him, taking it as the affirmative. He surfaced out of the water, the moonlight reflecting sadistically nicely on his backside. He caught her look and smirked.  
  
"Take a picture, woman. It lasts longer."  
  
Bulma screamed and cursed at him as he laughed and walked to where he had thrown his clothes. He picked them up and held Bulma's gaze with his own as he slid into his pants. "You're the one who wanted to go swimming." He reminded her as she caught up to him. She pulled her hair out of her eyes and continued pouting at him. "Yeah, but it's not like I was hoping to catch a glimpse of you naked."  
  
Wait...that's exactly what I was hoping for...  
  
Bulma resisted the urge to burst into peals of hysterical laughter. Why was she being so immature? It wasn't like she hadn't seen a man naked before. Although, Vegeta certainly made Yamchau look like a cancer patient.  
  
Vegeta had plopped down on the beach, not bothering to put his shirt back on. Bulma sat down beside him and they both stared out at the water, thinking whatever thoughts a human and a Sayajin would think.  
  
"Vegeta..." Bulma began cautiously.  
  
"Hn?"  
  
"Are you really that mad that I dragged you along?"  
  
He snorted and didn't look at her, but she watched his reaction carefully and saw what she thought to be a tiny hint of happiness in his eyes. She grinned.  
  
"I would have much rather stayed at home and continued my training, if that's what you're asking." He said with a grunt.  
  
She looked down, sparing him the humiliation of her knowing his genuine happiness. "Ok." She said. She picked up a seashell and began picking clumps of wet sand out of it. "Whatever you say."  
  
Vegeta raised an eyebrow and looked over at her out of the corner of his eye. Look at her. So tiny and weak. But with a mind and a temper to rival my own. Does she even know she does this to me?  
  
He watched her picking the sand away from the shell and almost allowed himself a smile. But Kami...she is beautiful.  
  
As if sensing his compliment Bulma looked up at him. He looked away almost instantly. She could not deny that she was having one of the best times of her life. They weren't fighting, they were shouting. They were simply sitting together...almost like...friends.  
  
Don't get carried away, Bulma. Vegeta would probably skin you alive if you called him your `friend'. But what if that's the only thing he's longing for?  
  
"Vegeta?" she pulled her knees up to her chest. "Have you ever been in love?"  
  
"What?" his face darkened. "What kind of fucking question is that?"  
  
Watch out Bulma...this could take a really nasty turn.  
  
"I mean..." she paused and wondered how to phrase it. "Maybe you haven't loved before...but I refuse to believe that you've never been with a woman, human or not."  
  
Vegeta wasn't sure how to take her question. He had never loved. He had no use for the word. It only made one weak, and in the world where he had grown up, one could not afford to be weak. He scowled. Suddenly he wanted to leave.  
  
"No. I have never been with a woman. Why does it matter?" he said bluntly, giving her a straight out honest statement. Fuck beating around the bush with stupid bullshit. He didn't like the conversation, but he didn't want to avoid it.  
  
Bulma was truly startled. "You're serious?"  
  
"Yes!" he said angrily. "What? Is it such an impossible thing for your tiny female brain to comprehend?"  
  
"No!" she snapped. "I was just curious! Is there a reason why you haven't? I mean, are you-  
  
"If you had seen the women on Vegetasei, you wouldn't have wanted to go near them either." He interrupted with bitter intent. "They were sickly and diseased. There only purpose for being alive was to spread their legs for the Sayajin Soldiers." He smirked, but not with any humor. "Being the Prince, I couldn't afford to put myself in danger of catching whatever putrid ailment they had. I was the future. I couldn't taint myself by giving it up to the Galaxies most festering scabs."  
  
Bulma was shocked to hear of such a thing. She had imagined the Sayajin women to be strangely beautiful and alluring in their own furry, manly way. To hear that Vegeta, even being the Prince, was spared such a sacred thing as sharing love through physical touch made her feel almost sorry for him. She swallowed and shifted around in the sand to face him. "I'm...sorry. I shouldn't have asked you..."  
  
"No." he snapped. "You're right. For once." His glare had become deadly. The type of glare that spoke of a thousand different ways to hurt somebody.  
  
"Well...it's not like I knew or anything!" Bulma said suddenly. Why was he so mad about this? It wasn't that big of a deal! She began slamming her heel into the sand, forming a deep hole. "You don't have to snap at me!"  
  
Vegeta leaned back on his palms and shook his head. The sky was growing darker and darker. Bulma supposed it must be nearing 1:00 in the morning. She briefly wondered if she would be able to find her way back to the tent. Before she could think another thought she heard Vegetas annoyed voice.  
  
"Right. Don't snap at you? How many times have I had to listen to you snap at that weakling boyfriend of yours in the hallway at four o'clock in the morning?"  
  
Bulma shook her head in a warning. "Don't even go there, Vegeta. I mean it."  
  
"People are trying to sleep and you stand outside yelling at him about one or another of his latest screws, of which he has the tact to go into great detail about, and you yell and rage but you take it. Aut you can go into the details of my private life, but then tell me not to delve into yours?" he shot back. "That's unfair."  
  
Bulma rounded on him so quickly it nearly surprised him. "UNFAIR!?" she screamed into his face, not caring who or what heard her. "You don't fucking know about unfair, you pompous piece of royal shit!"  
  
Vegeta stared at the fat tears rolling down her crimson face and suddenly felt like dying inside. Why, he did not know. Her blue eyes held so much pain in that moment. An ache tore at him and remained unidentified as she continued to stare defiantly into his stone cold, unfeeling face. Tears blurred her vision but still she glared and refused to back down although the pain in her heart was overwhelming her.  
  
"Let me tell you something about unfair, Vegeta." She said through clenched teeth. "It's unfair when your only love of 15 years, your only fucking reason for wanting to roll out of bed every morning, decides to stick his meat into some five cent whore!" her voice wavered as she shook with sobs of the past and waited for him, dared him to say something. Anything.  
  
"No, Bulma." Vegeta said with a low voice. "It's unfair when the other side of the story denies it and shoves it down inside and continues to take that same used man over and over again while she tries to smile and pretend its all peachy fucking keen."  
  
Bulmas big blue eyes blinked slowly as if trying to fathom what had just been said. Vegeta looked away; he couldn't look at her anymore. His body seemed to tremble with the words he had just spoken to her, the same words he had wanted to tell her so many times before. But for what reason? To save her from any more pain? Or to satisfy the cruelty that never stopped begging inside of him? He didn't know. A deep wounded noise rose from the back of her throat and he closed his eyes as her hand hit the side of his face with more anger and force than she had ever hit anything in her life. Then she got up, stumbled for a moment on unsteady legs, and took of running. Vegeta sat with his eyes still closed and listened to her hiccuping sobs fade into the distance. His cheek throbbed but he ignored it.  
  
It would pass. 


	5. ChapterFive

CHAPTER FIVE  
  
I'm only happy when it rains. My only comfort is the night gone black. I'm riding high upon a deep depression, I'm only happy when it rains.  
  
* * *  
  
Bulma ran without knowing where she was running to. The only thought in her mind was the stinging words of Vegeta that he had said to her with such venom.  
  
Words that hurt so much more because they were true.  
  
She ran blindly through the trees and underbrush, slapping aside overhanging ferns wet with moisture. Small animals watched with large nocturnal eyes as she sped past them, her violent sobs echoing in the night. They waited until she had passed before cautiously stepping out onto the path to pounce on tiny insects. Only then did they scamper back into the concealment of the bushes when another stranger passed, this one silent with a slow gate and an intimidating form, moments behind the first.  
  
Bulma finally slowed to a slow jog. It was becoming more and more difficult to breathe as her relentless sobbing ravaged her lungs between her gasps for air as she ran. She streaked her hand across her face and glared ahead, paying no attention to anything else. Her fear of hideous Island beasts had completely vanished to be replaced by the haunting pain she had tried to hard to bury. She suddenly hated the T-shirt she wore and would have torn it off had she been wearing anything beneath.  
  
That stupid bastard! I tried, I really tried to be nice to him, and he throws it in my fucking face! I hate him! I was so stupid to think I could actually change him.  
  
She stumbled over an overturned rock that she had not noticed. She fell back into step seconds later and growled in rage as the near spill only intensified her anger a hundred fold. She finally looked around at the Island. Only trees stared back at her. The ground was sandy and dipped into a tiny hill in front of her that widened out into a clearing. She remembered. It was where she had given Vegeta her homemade sunburn remedy. She halted in her tracks.  
  
I don't want to go there. She thought distantly. She bit her knuckle as she remembered something vital about the tiny pond. It was close to the very end of the Island, and they had only found their way back because Vegeta could fly and see the entire Island from above.  
  
She was lost.  
  
Of course. It seemed only natural to get lost on such a shitty night. Bulma drew in a trembling breath as her sobs subsided into tiny whimpers of fear. It wasn't that big of an Island...but...  
  
He won't come looking for you. He's probably sleeping or something, stupid prick.  
  
Bulma did not want to raise her voice to call for him. She would rather die first, after what he had said to her. With a frustrated groan she spun on her heels and began marching west, to the right. She wasn't going to retrace her steps; she couldn't see them.  
  
I hate you...  
  
* * *  
  
Vegeta was fighting a mental battle with himself.  
  
Had he been wrong? Did she deserve what he had said to her? Why had he said it to her?  
  
Now she was probably lost. He growled as he kicked aside a log that was in his way. The tiny mammals squeaked in response as the log tumbled into their bushes. He clenched his fists and powered up, shooting into the dark sky. There he hovered and squinted as he searched for her but it was to dark to see anything.  
  
* * *  
  
Bulma could have easily seen where he was if she had only looked up. But her attention was rooted in front of her and her current destination. The idea that he might have been looking for her didn't cross her mind. Her crying had finally died away, because now she was only afraid. Though not completely pitch dark it was hard to see ahead of her, and she was forced to slow down to a walk. She thought of the wild boars she had watched Vegeta kill; what if one of them was right beside her, this instant? She began to panic, and walked faster.  
  
Don't be so stupid. There's nothing on this Island that can kill you. She tried to reassure herself but it was of no use. Sounds she had not heard a minuet ago were now rising up from trees and tiny holes in the earth. She cursed herself. Just call him! Risk wounding your pride, for Kami's sake. It won't kill you!  
  
But she couldn't. He had hurt her more than he had ever hurt her before.  
  
And she wouldn't accept his help, not now.  
  
* * *  
  
Vegeta paused in his flying as a thought occurred to him. Why was he even looking for her? The stupid woman had slapped him, and insulted him, and pried into his personal life.  
  
And you nearly broke her heart with only words...  
  
He remembered the look in her eyes after he had said the words to her. Did he really have such power, to wound her that deeply? With a start he realized it was the first time he was not proud about hurting someone.  
  
He didn't know what to think of that.  
  
* * *  
  
Bulma had only seconds to react as her foot slipped and twisted at an odd angle into a deep hole.  
  
She cried out and reached for a tree, a vine, anything to stop herself, but the pain knifed into her and she fell to the ground with a grunt. She had fallen into a foxhole. Her ankle was trapped deep within the earth and with it her leg twisted impossibly to the opposite and entirely wrong direction.  
  
She wailed. She wailed and pounded her fists into the ground and screamed until her throat was raw. This was his fault! She hated him! She was cold and lost and now her ankle was probably broken because he was too self absorbed to take notice that others had feelings.  
  
The pain was intense, but not enough to tell her that it was a break. She had twisted her ankle before. This was only a light sprain, she assumed. But at the position she was in, it was nearly impossible to move. She realized grimly that she was not going to get herself out of this one without help.  
  
She closed her eyes and tried to fight back tears. She had cried too many, but this was insane. She didn't want to have to depend on him; to accept the fact that he was her only chance out of a fucking foxhole.  
  
She leaned back on her elbows and tried to take pressure off of her leg. He wasn't coming, anyway. She was going to lay her in this godforsaken situation until morning.  
  
Bulma rued the day he was born.  
  
* * *  
  
Vegeta had tried not to admit that he was afraid when he heard Bulmas scream. His first thought was that it was a boar, or worse, a pack of them. They had been known to gore a person to death.  
  
Then he thought about the possibility that she was only screaming her anguish to the world to hear.  
  
The first thought prevailed, and he raced to the area that he had heard her scream.  
  
Bulma craned her neck around when she heard him land behind her. She knew it was him, and with that thought in mind, she picked up the first object her hand found and prepared to heave it at him with deadly force.  
  
"Don't bother." He said softly. He appeared in front of her. The expression on his face was strange, almost sad. She paid no mind and pitched the rock at his face with all her might. As she knew he would, he blocked it easily with his wrist.  
  
"GET AWAY FROM ME! I HATE YOU! I WISH YOU WERE DEAD!" Bulma screamed at him. Vegeta said nothing as he stood in front of her. With renewed frustration she felt her tears returning, but fought like a wild beast to hold them back. She didn't want to give him the sadistic satisfaction of seeing her tears.  
  
Vegetas eyes traveled over her body, down her leg, to where her ankle disappeared into the hole. Her burning blue eyes followed his and she reddened, her chest heaving with the effort it took to hold herself up, keep her tears at bay, and salvage dignity at the same time. Her arms shook unsteadily and she scowled at him with blue slits of hate.  
  
"I don't need your fucking help, so don't come near me!" she cried. Her voice betrayed her anger but still he continued to stare at her, saying nothing, making no move to assist her. She began to wonder why he had really come. "Are you going to stand there and stare at me all night!?" she yelled. "Get the hell away from me. I can't believe you'd show your face after what you said to me."  
  
Look at you. Foolish woman. You ache and you are wounded and still you rage at me. There is too much pride in your heart to ask for help...you are so weak...and yet, you are so much stronger than myself in so many ways...  
  
Bulma watched his face for any signs of reaction. He was silent and unmoving and she was filled with a sense of dread. Did he come here to kill her? Why not? It wasn't that far fetched a notion. He had tried it already, why shouldn't he again?  
  
"Vegeta, you..." she was cut off as her arms slipped and she cried out as vicious pain tore at her ankle. She lay on her back, her leg cramped and straining for release, and sobbed up at the sky.  
  
Vegeta `s eyes softened at her pitiful cries. He was above her, suddenly, and she only closed her eyes as he slipped two hands so very gently under her armpits and hoisted her up.  
  
"Lie still." He said quietly. She held her breath as his hand slowly but forcefully worked her ankle out of the hole. She wailed as he wiggled it around. "Don't." he said, a bit annoyed. "It will only hurt for a second."  
  
And then it was free. She hid a smile of relief as he stood with her in his arms, but quickly remembered that she hated him, and struggled uselessly.  
  
"Let me go!"  
  
"Don't be stupid, you can't stand yet."  
  
She bit her lip in contempt and struck out against his shoulder. "Let me go! I can at least try. I'm not a weakling, like you say I am." She kicked out. "I said, let me go!"  
  
"Fine." He said coolly. He let her slide out of his arms. She landed softly on her good leg and balanced precariously for a second before faltering. Instinctively her other leg shot out to steady her and she cried out when she planted it on the ground with all her weight atop it.  
  
"Bulma..." Vegeta caught her as she was about to fall and pulled her into his embrace again. It was so pathetic, but it hurt him to watch her. It hurt him, through and through, to see what he had done to her.  
  
"I'm not a weakling, Vegeta!" she sobbed. She collapsed wearily against his shoulder and surrendered to the comforting warmth it brought. "And you have no idea how much you hurt me! You're a fucking jerk, Vegeta! Why did you help me, anyway? You don't care about me!" she turned her tear stained face to his. "You live to torment me!"  
  
He avoided her eyes. They were like daggers of ice. "You need to rest."  
  
Her eyes closed against the heavy onslaught of her emotion exhaustion. He was so warm. She didn't have to walk anymore, he could carry her back.  
  
"....jerk...." she mumbled, her eyelashes fluttering as she began to fall into deep slumber. The last thing she felt was Vegeta lifting off into the air, and the cool wind against her cheek as he flew toward her solitude. 


	6. ChapterSix

CHAPTER SIX  
  
What drives you on can drive you mad. A million lies to sell yourself is all you ever had. Can't believe you fake it. All you had you wasted. You stupid girl...  
  
* * *  
  
You're so beautiful...why do you have to be so beautiful...  
  
Vegeta lay inches from Bulma, watching her eyes search frantically behind her eyelids in the grip of a nightmare. He wanted to hold her, wanted to tell her he was sorry. She was making him want to do things he had always sworn he would never do.  
  
But I can't be sorry...  
  
He didn't know what had possessed him to stay with her in her tent while she slept. He felt only that he needed to, for some unknown reason. A force was driving him to watch over her, to protect her, even while she slept.  
  
She stirred occasionally, and every time she did he would move another inch away, self consciously, as though fearing she would awaken and yell at him again. He had never feared her yelling in this sort of a way before. Before when she would barrage him with a tirade of complaints and insults it would only succeed in annoying him. Now, when she yelled at him, it had made something inside of him constrict tightly, like the coils of a snake.  
  
Such strange things you make me think, Bulma...do you know how sorry I am? Do you know, do you understand, that I can't tell you...?  
  
He thought of her question. "Haven't you been with a woman, before?" it hadn't left his memory. It had stayed with him, burned into his mind like a recording. Now he felt his eyes trailing hopelessly over her glorious form. She lay half on, half off of the sleeping bag. Her T-shirt had ridden up past her thighs and until now, Vegeta had forced himself to keep his eyes away with a certain amount of difficulty.  
  
She was so amazingly gorgeous. He had never seen a creature such as she. She wore nothing beneath the T-shirt, and he could see the dark `v' shape of aqua curls that nestled between her thighs. He immediately felt guilty. He didn't know why. Her pert, rounded little nipples strained pleasantly against the material, courtesy of the chilly winds that occasionally blew into the tent.  
  
He wondered what it felt like. He knew well enough what it entailed. But he knew nothing of the sensations. He stretched and lay on his back with his hands behind his head. What would it be like...? To hold her in his arms and feel himself inside her?  
  
He felt warmth sinking into his cheeks, and even more warmth below the seam of his pants. She would whack him good, if she knew what he was thinking. He smirked at that. Such a fiery girl she was. Was it that temper of hers that captivated him? Or was it that she was so determined and strong willed, even though she cried and complained...?  
  
His features darkened considerably when he remembered the slap she had delivered to his cheek. And with good reason, too. He remembered how he had hardly felt the slap itself, but more so felt what was behind the slap, and that had actually hurt. His mind was at times a truly horrible thing. It would not let him feel guilt when he had wronged. But now...now she was challenging that. She was slowly but surely picking away at his barrier, and he was finding himself backing away with less and less effort at every swing she took.  
  
Am I going to let you in, Bulma...? Or do I need to let you accept me, and invite me in...?  
  
He rolled onto his side to gaze at her once more. She moaned and tossed around in obvious distress, only causing her T-shirt to ride up even further. Now her perfectly toned stomach was in plain view, along with the alluring curve of her hips that made his breath quicken and his pulse jump accordingly.  
  
And then, suddenly, she was awake and staring at him.  
  
He froze. He didn't know why. Every muscle in his body tensed into an almost painful cramp as he held his breath and waited for her reaction.  
  
She only blinked the sleep out of her eyes slowly. She didn't lunge at him or attack him with her voice. Instead she slowly reached out and touched his arm, as if to truly confirm that a Sayajin Prince was lying beside her in her sleeping quarters.  
  
"Vegeta...?" she wondered aloud.  
  
He cleared his throat in response. She frowned but not in anger. "Why are you...did you...stay here the whole time with me?"  
  
He went to shake his head but stopped. That was exactly what he had done. "I...there was a...boar. And you were..." he trailed off. He knew he sounded hopelessly unintelligent.  
  
Bulma smiled a half smile at him. Vegeta began to wonder if she had forgotten about the events only hours ago. By the way she winced when she moved her foot she didn't. It was then that she realized that her T-shirt was revealing most if not all of her body.  
  
She blushed intensely and tugged the shirt down in a hurry. She looked up at him to see if he had noticed. He looked away, and the tent was filled with a sudden unbearable awkwardness.  
  
"I wanted to make sure you would be alright." He suddenly blurted out. She narrowed her eyes, testing her trust in him. "You stayed here...all this time...to make sure I was alright?"  
  
"I'll leave now."  
  
She went to take his arm but seemed to change her mind. Her hand dropped to the blankets and she sighed as he propped himself up on one elbow, preparing to leave. He paused at the front of the tent and looked back at her. "I'm...I mean, if it means anything...at all, now...I suppose that I am sorry for what I said to you..."  
  
Bulma stared at him. He couldn't seem to open the tent. His body felt as though it was in the Gravity Chamber and someone had put a magnetic force on him. Bulma sensed his hesitation and said softly; "It means everything, Vegeta...stay with me?"  
  
"You hate me."  
  
"I did."  
  
He looked down at her form curled up in the folds of the sleeping bag. "Woman, you..."  
  
She asked him with her eyes. He slowly moved back to where he had been laying with her, but did not initially lie down. Bulma gently put a hand on his arm and forcefully pulled him down beside her.  
  
"Don't look like a deer caught in the headlights, Vegeta." Her voice came out choked, as though she was struggling with something.  
  
"I don't belong here." He said shortly. He tried his best to muster a glare but couldn't.  
  
"I want you to be here..." she said softly. "Do you want to be here?"  
  
He let himself drown in her eyes. More than you could believe...but I can't...  
  
Her fingers slid up his arm, dipping in-between the lines of chiseled muscle. She looked at him as her fingers stopped at his shoulder. "You hurt me." He felt her body quiver.  
  
"I know." He managed. This time a scowl returned full force to his face.  
  
"But you hate yourself for it...don't you?"  
  
He opened his mouth to speak but she shook her head. "I know you do. That's the reason why I want you here..."  
  
He tried to argue but she stopped him with her mouth on his. His eyes flew open and he jumped, startled. No one, but no one came at his face that fast...  
  
But it felt incredibly right.  
  
Suddenly she was there, in his arms. Her tiny little body nestled so perfectly in his embrace. And her tongue, warring with his, searching his mouth and beyond. He felt her hands hesitantly running up his back, rubbing, massaging, and kneading while she moved against him with awakened need.  
  
He pulled away from her, catching his breath. "I want this..." she whispered to him before he had a chance to ask.  
  
"I've never..."  
  
She took his hand in her own. "That doesn't matter. Let me guide you..." she blushed slightly. It was an incredible turn-on, though he didn't exactly like the way she was in control. Then his hand was on her hip, and she was kissing him again, cueing him to move his fingers beyond where she had placed them. With the delicious little moan she made in his ear, he didn't need much prompting.  
  
She was so unbelievably soft. His fingers wandered over her skin, exploring the dips and curves of her body. She watched him, the way his eyes almost seemed to loose focus as she felt his fingers thread through the wiry curls of her womanhood. He looked at her while he began moving his fingers closer. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip and took her mouth as he slid two fingers into her warm, wet entrance. She whimpered and bucked herself against his hand as if begging, pleading him that he go deeper. He smirked, thought somewhat unbelievably; he couldn't imagine he could make her feel like that.  
  
He slowly slid one finger inside of her and held the other out, gently rubbing her clitoris while the other crooked itself into a `come here' position and ruthlessly began its attack. Bulmas sudden cry was answer enough for him. He felt her body tense and quiver and slowly stopped his fingers movements. She shuddered and moved against him pleadingly again.  
  
"You've...gotten the hang of this...rather quickly..." she breathed into his ear, tickling him. He held her gaze while he began rubbing her clitoris again, this time faster. He wanted to see her come, wanted to feel her drain herself against his hand. She closed her eyes and rolled her head back, her mouth open in a silent cry of pleasure. He used his other hand to push her shirt up her stomach and leaned over her to nuzzle her breasts. Vegeta waited until she was seconds away from her climax and suckled gently on her nipples, tracing a wet line with his tongue from each breast while her body thrashed beneath his. She clutched to him while warm juices dribbled out into his hand. He pulled his fingers out of her and sat up, tugging at the fly on his pants.  
  
Once his pants were off he covered her body with his, experimentally pressing his hardness against her navel and reveling in the sweet moans she made. He sat up and pulled her with him with one arm. Bulma sat in his lap, her slickness rubbing against him. It sent him reeling.  
  
"Vegeta...please..." she ran her tongue over his neck, his collarbone, his ears. Her small hands held him in their grasp and she squeezed, loving the throaty purr she got in return. She looked down at him and her eyes widened. He noticed her expression and instantly became worried.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"N-nothing...you're just...very..." she trailed off. He nudged her face with his and kissed her lingeringly. "Big?" he offered with a sensual smirk. She nodded, her cheeks filling with color again. "Very."  
  
His face turned to one of seriousness. "Will I hurt you?" he asked.  
  
"No." she assured him with a smile and a kiss. "I want you. It makes no difference."  
  
She shifted in his lap and moved her legs until they were on either side of him, then slid herself down on him excruciatingly slowly. Vegeta gritted his teeth and groaned in total ecstasy. Bulma began rocking her hips slowly against him, nibbling on his earlobe. She giggled softly at the look on his face. "What?" he gasped, grabbing her hips and helping her move. "Nothing," she said, darting her hot tongue into his ear, "You seem a little...overwhelmed."  
  
Vegeta twisted his face into a half grin, half look of pleasure. "You're so wet, Bulma..." he thrusted against her, "You're so damn tight and hot...so," he bit her gently on her nose, "sinfully delicious."  
  
Bulma cried out as he suddenly moved her onto her back in one swift motion, keeping himself in her the whole time. He held her legs up and against his shoulders and began to thrust hard and deep into her. Bulma moaned loudly and grabbed fistfuls of the sleeping bag as he slammed into her again and again. She loved it this way. He was so amazingly gentle and so savagely merciless at the same time. She listened to the wet slapping noise they made each time they connected, and the grunting Vegeta emitted with each thrust.  
  
She clenched her toes and trembled with the release of another orgasm. Vegeta held her tightly to him while she moaned and arched her back and bit her bottom lip, ending in a collapse, gasping for breath. He smirked down at her again and surprisingly pulled out of her. She looked at him with question as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I want to taste you, Bulma." He said in a low growl that sent shivers through her body. "Lie on your stomach."  
  
She did. He started at her feet, licking at her ankle and giving gentle kisses to the sprained one. He ran his hands up her legs and rubbed her inner thighs, flicking his tongue over them. She arched her behind in the air and spread her legs as he came to her entrance, whimpering at him, waiting for his tongue. He inhaled deeply. She smelled absolutely amazing. He darted his tongue out and flicked at her nether lips. She cried out and arched further, and he moved his hands to massage her rear in time to his tongue's movements. Vegeta closed his eyes and heard himself groaning and purring as he ran his hands over her ivory skin and drove his tongue deep into her, wiggling it around inside and then dragging it out with excruciating slowness, losing himself in her panting little cries. Her juices dribbled over his chin and he lapped quietly at her, making soft little sucking noises as he pumped his tongue in and out of her, kissing her, drinking her in. He withdrew his tongue  
again and licked tiny circles around her clitoris as one of his fingers came and dipped gently between soft folds. He could have gone on forever but Bulmas shivering signaled her release and he buried his tongue deep inside her as she thrust back to meet his face, crying his name again and again as he held his face against her and licked up every drop.  
  
She collapsed on the sleeping bag, quite literally overwhelmed, but Vegeta was not done with her. Rolling her over, he moved over her, entering her in one swift movement, and crushed her to him while she was still trembling in the aftermath. The feeling of her slick body rubbing against his nearly drove him wild, and she clung to him and made frantic, short moans in his ear as he pumped furiously inside of her, losing all sane thought, and focusing only on the area where they connected.  
  
When he came it was savage and unrelenting. He arched his back and howled, slamming his hips hard and deep against her as he poured his seed into her and she writhed against him, grabbing fistfuls of his skin and squeezing her legs tight around his. He nearly fell on her but managed to steady himself with one arm. Panting, he put his head to her shoulder and closed his eyes, feeling more physically satisfied than he had ever felt in his life. Bulma smoothed his hair and smiled into it, trying to catch her own breath as he gasped for his. Their sweat mingled sweetly together and she inhaled deep the smell of their passion. Vegeta finally recovered and rolled to his side keeping her body locked against his own. Bulma smiled softly to herself and snuggled into his arms as her body tingled with the sensation of a sacred thing shared.  
  
Vegeta looked down at the tiny woman in his arms and grinned. She was his, now. Nothing would come between them. And it was strangely pleasant, because he knew and he admitted that he was also hers, and it didn't bother him at all. 


	7. ChapterSeven

CHAPTER SEVEN  
  
You burned me out but I'm back at your door. Like Joan of Arc coming back for more. I came around to tear your little world apart. And break your soul apart...  
  
Vegeta slowly opened his eyes as the new sunlight peered annoyingly into them. He stared at the ceiling of the tent and frowned as he realized that he did not know where he was. Disoriented, he rolled over only to hear a tiny moan right beneath his chin. Bulma. She lay contently in his arms, pieces of her hair falling over her shoulders and some spilling onto his chest like water. He found himself smirking as he remembered last nights events.  
  
Finally he had discovered what it felt like. And it was everything that he had ever heard it was. He abruptly felt a stab of jealously to know that Yaumcha had felt the same thing many times, most definitely. But now she was here, in his arms. His mate.  
  
Bulma stirred. He closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. She sat up groggily and rubbed the sleep away from her face. Moments later he heard her smiling and felt her soft little lips gently over his eyelids. It was a new, different sensation and he found he loved it. It tickled. He could not resist an amused smirk at the contact, and thus gave away his supposed sleep. Bulma slapped him playfully on the arm.  
  
"I knew you were awake." She said. He didn't give her a chance to say anything else because he sat up, rolling her off of his chest and out of his embrace.  
  
"Yes, well..." he shook his head, fluffing his hair furiously with his hands. She watched, thoughts speeding through her brain about their experience shared. Their fight was but a distant, painful memory. There was a new memory now, a rather nice one that had replaced it.  
  
"Vegeta..." she wiggled closer to him. He absently answered "Hm?"  
  
"Thank you."  
  
He looked down at her with an unreadable expression. She felt worry leap into her heart before he said, "Don't get all soft on me, now." With a gruff voice.  
  
She grinned. "Ok...where are you going?"  
  
He was opening the flap of her tent. "Leaving before your idiot mother comes over here and starts giggling about our sex life."  
  
Bulma seized the opportunity. "So we have a sex life?" She grinned at his backside. "You mean it?"  
  
Vegeta groaned. "Yes, woman! Don't be an idiot, it's too early for that-  
  
She grabbed him around the waist from behind and snuggled her face into his back. "Stay." She pouted.  
  
"No." he replied, his face forming an early scowl.  
  
"Pleeeeease?" she whined. "I don't want you to leave yet, you're only-  
  
She shrieked as Vegeta whipped around and grabbed her with lightning fast speed, tearing out of the tent with her screaming. He powered up, devilishly grinning as he shot into the air, Bulma kicking and yelling and laughing all at once. He gave no thought to the fact that they were both entirely naked. Bulma craned her neck to see where they were heading. It was the small pond where she had given Vegeta her sunburn remedy, and close to where she had sprained her ankle. She blinked at the thought. She had nearly forgotten about the sprain until now. But there was little time to think as Vegeta landed none to gently, slipping her into his arms and onto the ground in one motion. She winced and tested the ground with her ankle. It was unsteady, but she could put weight on it. Vegeta held her army to steady her and watched her twist her foot around in the sand, marveling at the lack of pain.  
  
"What did you do to it?" she wonderingly asked him. He shrugged. "Nothing. It just doesn't hurt anymore, that's all."  
  
Bulma thought this over. After it seemed correct, she immediately turned and smacked him. "You dork! We're both naked!"  
  
"That is correct." He said sarcastically. "You're rather bright this morning, woman."  
  
"Shut up!" she countered. "Just how do you think we're going to get back to camp without my parents seeing two naked people flying around in the sky inconspicuously?"  
  
He frowned and shrugged. "It does not matter. Right now I wish to take a bath. I thought you might have wanted to join me."  
  
Bulma shivered against the cool morning air. It was a good idea. She was rather...sticky...from last night.  
  
She watched him slip into the pond without another word. He vanished below the surface and reappeared seconds later with a large fish in his hand. He smacked it against the side of a rock on the embankment and looked at her, "Hungry?"  
  
She couldn't help but laugh.  
  
He shrugged and tossed the fish onto the rocks and dipped below the surface again. She sighed and sat down close to the edge of the water, comfortable on a patch of moss.  
  
You did it, you know. You had sex with Vegeta. Something you never even had cross your mind....and now here you are, naked, watching him swimming around in some little Island back eddy. She paused, as if the sudden realization just sunk in. Oh well...he hasn't done anything to ruin it...yet.  
  
As if he knew that he was being thought about, Vegeta surfaced with a giant splash directly in front of her and hauled her in by one leg. Thankfully, her good one, or he would have had one big shiner.  
  
She gasped as they broke the surface together her in his arms and him smirking at her, expecting a slap. She didn't give him the satisfaction of giving him one, and instead looped her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his lips. Under the water she could feel his legs gently kicking to keep the two of them above the surface. She also felt what her kiss was doing to him. She broke away and grinned.  
  
"Vegeta, you horny bastard."  
  
He smirked again, ignoring her remark, and leaned over to bite her shoulder. She gasped in surprise at the contact. He had bitten her last night as well, in a number of different places, but it was still a feeling she was going to take a long time to get used to.  
  
Bulma wrapped her legs around his waist in a scissor like motion as he paddled away to a slightly more shallow area of the pond. The feeling of their bodies pressed together with only water between them was wildly erotic, and she could already feel herself wanting him again. Vegeta began splashing water gently around her shoulders and neck, rubbing the water into her skin. She closed her eyes; it felt incredibly good. He continued to massage her neck rhythmically, occasionally stopping to pull strands of her hair out of the way. Bulma could hear his breathing deepening with the intimacy of the activity, and his hands began to stray further down her body to gently cup her behind in his hands. Bulma moaned and felt his hardness probing inches away from her entrance. She opened her eyes and found him staring at her, his burning coal black eyes narrowed and gazing at her from under two heavy brows. She leaned in and kissed him, slowly maneuvering herself onto his hard length. He  
slid into her with ease and both of them inhaled sharply at the delicious sensation. Suddenly overcome with desire, Bulma placed her palms on his neck and leaned back, thrusting her hips against him, desperately needing and wanting him to give her the same feelings that he had given her last night.  
  
Vegeta obliged. Using his strong hands he lifted her slightly to allow himself better access to her pert, firm breasts. He took a hard pink nipple in his mouth and suckled gently on the tip, using his other hand to grope and knead her buttocks. Bulma moaned and cried out softly as he thrusted hard into her expertly keeping the two of them above the surface.  
  
It continued for what seemed like hours. Vegeta, not quite content with only giving Bulma five orgasms, would either take her out of the water and lay with her there on the shoreline, or he would take her again in the water, not giving her a second to recuperate before he was inside her once more. Bulma only shook and trembled and gasped for sweet merciful breath as he finally slowed to a slow pace and allowed her final release. The two surfaced from the water and, satisfied with their `bath' Vegeta flew them both back toward camp, trying hard to keep them hidden while he slipped Bulma back into her tent.  
  
It was not a second too soon. Dr.Breifs yawned and stepped out of his tent seconds after Vegeta's naked backside slipped behind the concealment of the trees, his spandex in hand. Bulma quickly shimmied into a pair of shorts and a tank top just as her father poked his head into the flap of her tent.  
  
"Bulma, honey. Sleep well?"  
  
Bulma tried to keep the color from her cheeks. "I slept wonderfully, dad." She gushed, apparently not doing to good a job. Dr.Breifs straightened, a little confused, and waved the matter away with his hands. "Oh...alright then. Will we see you at breakfast?" he paused. "Where's Vegeta?"  
  
"Probably getting dressed as we speak."  
  
"What makes you say that...?"  
  
Bulma turned before he would catch the giggle and hid it in her pillow. She instantly wanted to clout herself; she was acting like an idiotic schoolgirl!  
  
"I don't know. I'll see you guys at breakfast." She replied. "By the way, what is for breakfast?"  
  
"Onion pancakes!" Dr.Breifs beamed. "And lima beans."  
  
* * * 


End file.
